Valley Tech music teacher in band that will open concert for Huey Lewis and the News

Music teacher Katie Ruzanski is used to being in front of an audience of high school students in her Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School classroom. Tonight, though, she’ll be in front of a much larger audience.

Music teacher Katie Ruzanski is used to being in front of an audience of high school students in her Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School classroom.

Tonight, though, she’ll be in front of a much larger audience.

Ruzanski’s band, Scarlett Drive, will perform in the Bank of the West Celebrates America concert in Omaha, Neb. — an event that drew 65,000 people last year. The band, by virtue of winning a Facebook contest, will open for Huey Lewis and the News.

“This will, by far, be our biggest show,” said Ruzanski, who lives in Worcester. “I’m a little nervous, but I know, once we’re on stage, it will be fun — it’s doing what we love.”

“It is nerve-wracking, but we’ve worked really hard,” she said.

According to a press release from Banks of the West, “hundreds of bands” entered the contest, and Scarlett Drive was one of seven finalists.

Ruzanski, a vocalist, still can’t believe the band will open for Huey Lewis.

“I think it’s crazy — I’ve listened to Huey Lewis since I was 6 years old,” she said. “To think we’ll be opening for him is insane.”

She said her bandmates are also among Lewis’ fans.

“All the band members had purchased tickets to see him in Boston even before we were in the contest,” she said.

Ruzanski has just finished her fourth year teaching at Blackstone Valley.

“I’ve been teaching for seven years — I’ve just been in the band for six months,” she said. “I’d always wanted to be in a band — I had been doing a solo act for some time before that.”

According to Ruzanski, her students were very encouraging after they found out about the contest.

“There were quite a few kids who were really, really excited about it,” she said. “A lot of them emailed me to find out if we made it because, when the school year ended, we didn’t know if we’d won.”

She said she hopes her story will inspire her students to chase their dreams.

“This can show them that, if they work hard and dedicate themselves, they can achieve things they didn’t think possible,” she said. “To share that with kids is what the job is really all about.”

Scarlett Drive’s performance will be posted after the concert on the Bank of the West YouTube channel at youtube.com/BankoftheWest.

Mike Gleason can be reached at 508-634-7546 or mgleanson@wickedlocal.com.